The Gimp Hits 2.0

The GIMP developers are proud to release version 2.0 of the GIMP, the leading free software tool for image manipulation.

Berlin, Germany – March 23, 2004 – This release is a major event, marking the end of a three year development cycle by a group of volunteers and enthusiasts who have made this the most professional release of the GIMP ever. It is the first stable release that is officially supported not only on Unix-based operating systems, but also on Microsoft Windows and Macintosh OS X.

"When you launch version 2.0 you’ll see a new look that’s a huge improvement over the previous version’s mundane and purely functional interface. The new design not only provides a polished and comfortable feel, it is also far more intuitive and friendly than its predecessor." – Bruce Burgess, Newsforge, February 25, 2004.

Started in 1995 by Spencer Kimball and Peter Mattis, the GIMP has evolved into a mature and powerful application. The latest release has major improvements in the user interface, making the GIMP more accessible for casual users as well as graphics professionals. The quality of the code base has also been substantially improved, making it easier for the open source community to contribute useful and high-quality add-ons to the GIMP.

"This new version. . . fulfils its promise." "In general, the user interface is easier to use [and] more coherent. . . save screen real estate, all dialog boxes. . . can now be grouped together in one window using a tabbed interface. . . Soon you will have no more excuses for using Photoshop" – Linux Magazine France, March 2004.

The GNU Image Manipulation Program, the GIMP, is ideal for amateur photographers, web designers, and many other people who want to create and edit digital images. It is a very powerful application, with features including: channels, layers and masks; colour operations such as levels, curves and threshhold; advanced selection operations using intelligent scissors and selection channels; and much more.

GIMP is free software, which means it can be freely distributed and modified. This makes it well suited to be included on cover disks of magazines dedicated to digital photography or image editing, or to be included with digital cameras, scanners, printers etc. As free software, its capabilities are ultimately limited only by the collective imagination of the community of free software contributors. More information about the GIMP is available at http://www.gimp.org